Economic structure of Kahramanmaras developed based on agriculture, stockbreeding and small handicraft activities after the establishment of the Republic, until the 1980s. Initially, agriculture was the leading sector of the economy owing to its geographical position as well as its suitable climate for farming.After 1984, when Kahramanmaras ranked among the prominent cities in development, important investments for the textile industry were made with the incentives given to the province. The sectors, which have benefited the most from the incentives are the textile and food industries.

Metal kitchen utensils sector, an extension of aluminium work and coppersmith from the past, received its share from the same trend of industrialization considerably. Therefore, metal kitchen utensils sector is the second important sector after the textile industry.

Certain products in the agriculture and food sectors reached the highest level of production in Turkey. Powdered and flaked red pepper production, among the agriculture based sectors, have a tendency to develop in parallel with industrialization. Ice-cream sector, which contributed to the reputation of our city in the country is among the fastest growing sectors. Kahramanmaras ice-cream was influenced greatly by industrialization, have gone beyond the borders of our country and started to spread, especially in countries nearby and USA, then to countries all over the world. In terms of branding, the sector showed a more different tendency than the city's other sub-industry branches. The sector, which played a major role in the promotion of the city, becomes prominent with the brands, whose reputation extends beyond the domestic borders.

Our province, which hosts integrated investments of region's industrialists in areas other than the above-mentioned sectors, such as paper and cement, thanks to the advantages it has been offering in the last few years, has started to be among the alternative places in the investment decisions of well-known brands, especially in the food sector.

In general; the sectors, which shape the economy of Kahramanmaras and provide dynamism, are textile, metal kitchen utensils, food, paper industries and jewellery.

Sectors

Number of Companies

Textile and Apparel

271

Food

163

Building

105

Kitchen Utensils

77

Timber and Plastics

35

Milk and Dairy Products

28

Agricultural Production

28

Paper and Packaging

18

Other

303

TOTAL

1.028

Source: Kahramanmaraş Ticaret ve Sanayi Odası, 2012

In our province, where the textile, food, mining and metal ware sectors are prominent, when the industry of Kahramanmaras is examined by taking into consideration the Industrial Registry records, it can be seen that 63% of the employment is in the textile sector. Industrial Registry Inventory of K.Maraş

Sector

Company

The Number of Employees

Textile

225

25886

Food

175

4008

Mining

81

3528

Metal ware

86

2739

Energy

11

804

Chemistry (Petroleum, Rubber, Plastics)

35

704

Cement

6

657

Main Metal Industry

38

643

Furniture

29

603

Paper

6

502

Machinery and Equipment

25

304

Glass and other Building Materials

13

275

Packaging, Printing and Publishing

6

253

Total

736

40906

Kahramanmaras is taking firm steps forward with its existing sectors and potential investment areas. When 3.768.000.000 TL of total fixed investment, planned with 232 investment incentive certificates, prepared between 2009 and 2012, is achieved, approximately 7.600 people will be provided with employment opportunities. Sectoral Distribution of Total Investment Incentive Certificates of Kahramanmaras Province in 2009-2012